Synthesis of Bodipy-Tagged Galactoconjugates and Evaluation of Their Antibacterial Properties.

As a development of our research on biocompatible glycoconjugate probes and specifically multi-chromophoric systems, herein, we report the synthesis and early bactericidal tests of two luminescent glycoconjugates whose basic structure is characterized by two boron dipyrromethene difluoride (BODIPY) moieties and three galactoside rings mounted on an oligophenylene ethynylene (OPE) skeleton. BODIPY fluorophores have found widespread application in many branches of biology in the last few decades. In particular, molecular platforms showing two different BODIPY groups have unique photophysical behavior useful in fluorescence imaging. Construction of the complex architecture of the new probes is accomplished through a convergent route that exploits a series of copper-free Heck-Cassar-Sonogashira cross-couplings. The great emergency due to the proliferation of bacterial infections, in conjunction with growing antibiotic resistance, requires the production of new multifunctional drugs and efficient methods for their targeted delivery to control bacteria-associated diseases. Preliminary studies of the glycoconjugate properties as antibacterial agents against representatives of Gram-negative (P. aeruginosa) and Gram-positive (S. aureus) pathogens, which are associated with chronic infections, indicated significant bactericidal activity ascribable to their structural features.

Rod-like nanostructures through amphiphilic OPE-porphyrin self-organization.

A new amphiphilic monosubstituted porphyrin functionalized by a ß-D-glucoside terminated oligophenylenethylene (OPE) able to self-arrange into nano-aggregates in polar solvents has been synthesized and fully characterized in its monomeric and aggregated forms.

Amino-OPE glycosides and blue light: a powerful synergy in photodynamic therapy.

Herein we report the synthesis and biological properties of sugar-conjugated oligophenylene ethynylene (OPE) dyes, used as novel photosensitizers (PSs) for photodynamic treatment (PDT) under blue light. The OPE-bearing glycosides at both ends are successfully prepared by a Pd-catalyzed Sonogashira cross-coupling reaction. The live-cell imaging studies have shown that these OPE glycosides (including glucose, mannose and maltose derivatives) efficiently penetrate the cytoplasm of cultured HeLa cancer cells. No dark toxicity was observed, but upon irradiating the cells under blue light an extraordinary photodynamic effect was observed at low concentrations (10-6-10-8 M). The localization studies indicate that OPE-glucose 1 and OPE-mannose 2 have Golgi patterns, whereas OPE-maltose 3 could be in lysosomes. The PDT and morphological studies in HeLa cells treated with sublethal doses of PS 1-3 revealed that cell death occurs by necrosis.

A Curcumin-BODIPY Dyad and Its Silica Hybrid as NIR Bioimaging Probes.

In this paper we describe the synthesis of a novel bichromophoric system in which an efficient photoinduced intercomponent energy transfer process is active. The dyad consists of one subunit of curcumin and one of BODIPY and is able to emit in the far-red region, offering a large Stokes shift, capable of limiting light scattering processes for applications in microscopy. The system has been encapsulated in MCM-41 nanoparticles with dimensions between 50 and 80 nm. Both the molecular dyad and individual subunits were tested with different cell lines to study their effective applicability in bioimaging. MCM-41 nanoparticles showed no reduction in cell viability, indicating their biocompatibility and bio-inertness and making them capable of delivering organic molecules even in aqueous-based formulations, avoiding the toxicity of organic solvents. Encapsulation in the porous silica structure directed the location of the bichromophoric system within cytoplasm, while the dyad alone stains the nucleus of the hFOB cell line.

A two-site reactive platform in the synthesis of amino-functionalized amphiphilic molecules via sulfenic acids.

The synthesis of some bolaamphiphiles is described. It is a convergent approach that allows the linkage of a glucosyl derivative to a bis-functionalized platform, via a copper-free Sonogashira cross-coupling. The central core was obtained from the reaction of a suitably substituted bis-sulfoxide with diethynyl benzenes. The intermediates of such reaction are sulfenyl functions that are easily added to one triple bond of the unsaturated molecules. The functionalization at the central core, through the nucleophilic addition of ammonia or piperidine onto the two vinyl sulfonyl groups already present in the backbones of the molecules, opened the way to the preparation of more complex derivatives. The observation of the formation of new stereogenic carbons with an unexpected significantly high diastereoselectivity was justified and supported by preliminary theoretical calculations. The two ending glucosyl moieties were favourably deprotected to afford the amino-functionalized bolaamphiphilic molecules.

Bodipy-carbohydrate systems: synthesis and bio-applications.

Luminescent BODIPY-sugar probes have stimulated the attention of researchers for the potential applications of such molecular systems in bio-imaging. The presence of carbohydrate units confers unique structural and biological features, beside enhancement of water solubility and polarity. On the other hand, BODIPY (BOronDiPYrromethene) derivatives represent eclectic and functional luminescent molecules because of their outstanding photophysical properties. This article provides a review on the synthesis and applications of BODIPY-linked glycosyl probes in which the labelling of complex carbohydrates with BODIPY allowed the disclosing of their in vivo behaviour or where the sugar constitutes a recognition element for specific targeting probes, or, finally, in which the stereochemical characteristics of the carbohydrate hydroxyl groups play as structural elements for assembling more than one photoactive subunit, resulting in functional supramolecular molecules with modulable properties. We describe the methods we have used to construct various multiBODIPY molecular systems capable of functioning as artificial antennas exhibiting extremely efficient and fast photo-induced energy transfer. Some of these systems have been designed to allow the modulation of energy transfer efficiency and emission color, and intensity dependent on their position within a biological matrix. Finally, future perspectives for such BODIPY-based functional supramolecular sugar systems are also highlighted.

Study of Uptake Mechanisms of Halloysite Nanotubes in Different Cell Lines.

PURPOSE: Halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) are a natural aluminosilicate clay with a chemical formula of Al2Si2O5(OH)4×nH2O and a hollow tubular structure. Due to their peculiar structure, HNTs can play an important role as a drug carrier system. Currently, the mechanism by which HNTs are internalized into living cells, and what is the transport pathway, is still unclear. Therefore, this study aimed at establishing the in vitro mechanism by which halloysite nanotubes could be internalized, using phagocytic and non-phagocytic cell lines as models. METHODS: The HNT/CURBO hybrid system, where a fluorescent probe (CURBO) is confined in the HNT lumen, has been used as a model to study the transport pathway mechanisms of HNTs. The cytocompatibility of HNT/CURBO on cell lines model was investigated by MTS assay. In order to identify the internalization pathway involved in the cellular uptake, we performed various endocytosis-inhibiting studies, and we used fluorescence microscopy to verify the nanomaterial internalization by cells. We evaluated the haemolytic effect of HNT/CURBO placed in contact with human red blood cells (HRBCs), by reading the absorbance value of the supernatant at 570 nm. RESULTS: The HNT/CURBO is highly biocompatible and does not have an appreciable haemolytic effect. The results of the inhibition tests have shown that the internalization process of nanotubes occurs in an energy-dependent manner in both the investigated cell lines, although they have different characteristics. In particular, in non-phagocytic cells, clathrin-dependent and independent endocytosis are involved. In phagocytic cells, in addition to phagocytosis and clathrin-dependent endocytosis, microtubules also participate in the halloysite cellular trafficking. Upon internalization by cells, HNT/CURBO is localized in the cytoplasmic area, particularly in the perinuclear region. CONCLUSION: Understanding the cellular transport pathways of HNTs can help in the rational design of novel drug delivery systems and can be of great value for their applications in biotechnology.

A Portrait of the OPE as a Biological Agent.

Oligophenylene ethynylenes, known as OPEs, are a sequence of aromatic rings linked by triple bonds, the properties of which can be modulated by varying the length of the rigid main chain or/and the nature and position of the substituents on the aromatic units. They are luminescent molecules with high quantum yields and can be designed to enter a cell and act as antimicrobial and antiviral compounds, as biocompatible fluorescent probes directed towards target organelles in living cells, as labelling agents, as selective sensors for the detection of fibrillar and prefibrillar amyloid in the proteic field and in a fluorescence turn-on system for the detection of saccharides, as photosensitizers in photodynamic therapy (due to their capacity to highly induce toxicity after light activation), and as drug delivery systems. The antibacterial properties of OPEs have been the most studied against very popular and resistant pathogens, and in this paper the achievements of these studies are reviewed, together with almost all the other roles held by such oligomers. In the recent decade, their antifungal and antiviral effects have attracted the attention of researchers who believe OPEs to be possible biocides of the future. The review describes, for instance, the preliminary results obtained with OPEs against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, the virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic.

Synthesis of Curcumin Derivatives and Analysis of Their Antitumor Effects in Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) Cell Lines.

We analyzed antitumor effects of a series of curcumin analogues. Some of them were obtained by reaction of substitution involving the two phenolic OH groups of curcumin while the analogues with a substituent at C-4 was prepared following an original procedure that regards the condensation of benzenesulfenic acid onto the nucleophilic central carbon of the curcumin skeleton. We analyzed cytotoxic effects of such derivatives on two TNBC (triple negative breast cancer) cell lines, SUM 149 and MDA-MB-231, but only three of them showed an IC50 in a lower micromolar range with respect to curcumin. We also focused on these three derivatives that in both cell lines exhibited a higher or at least equivalent pro-apoptotic effect than curcumin. The analysis of molecular mechanisms of action of the curcumin derivatives under study has highlighted that they decreased NF-κB transcriptional factor activity, and consequently the expression of some NF-κB targets. Our data confirmed once again that curcumin may represent a very good lead compound to design analogues with higher antitumor capacities and able to overcome drug resistance with respect to conventional ones, even in tumors difficult to treat as TNBC.

Carbohydrates and Charges on Oligo(phenylenethynylenes): Towards the Design of Cancer Bullets.

Two new tetralkylammonium-OPEs, bearing one or two positively charged groups directly linked to the aromatic residues and two ß-d-glucopyranose terminations, were synthesized. Their peculiar structural features, joining the biologically relevant sugar moieties, flat aromatic cores and positive charges, make these luminescent dyes soluble in aqueous media and able to strongly interact with DNA. As a result of UV/Vis spectral variations, DNA melting temperature measures, viscometric titrations and induced CD, we propose a partial insertion of the OPEs aromatic core into the helix, stabilized by glucose H-bonding with the groups accessible from the grooves. This interaction leads to the quenching of the OPE luminescence due to guanine reduction. The biocompatibility of the monocationic OPE with healthy and cancer cells, and the reduction of proliferation in HEp-2 cancer cells induced by the dicationic one, make this class of compounds promising for future biological applications.

Transient Sulfenic Acids in the Synthesis of Biologically Relevant Products.

Sulfenic acids as small molecules are too unstable to be isolated and their transient nature offers the possibility to involve them in concerted processes that lead to the obtainment of functional groups such as sulfoxides, sulfones, and disulfides. All these functions are present in a number of natural and synthetic drugs and can represent structural motives inducing biologically relevant properties. In this small review the generation and reactions of sulfenic acid bearing naturally occurring residues are described. Carbohydrate and aminoacid-derived sulfenic acids have been used in concerted addition with triple bonds to obtain alliin derivatives and thiosugars in enantiomerically pure form. Glycoconjugates with sulfinyl, sulfonyl, and disulfane functional groups and pyridine-derived disulfides have been obtained from bis- and tris-sulfinyl precursors of sulfenic acids. Small families of such compounds have been subjected to preliminary biological tests. Starting from the evidence that the control of molecular architecture and the presence of suitable functional groups can play a significant role on the exhibition of biological properties, apoptotic effects on malignant cells by glycoconjugates and inhibitory activity against the important human pathogen S. aureus by pyrimidine-derived disulfides have been found.

Localization-controlled two-color luminescence imaging via environmental modulation of energy transfer in a multichromophoric species.

We prepared a bichromophoric species 1, made of two different bodipy dyes bridged by a d-galactose unit. 1 exhibits different emission spectra when located in different compartments of biological systems, independently of its concentration. This is an unprecedented feature for a single multicomponent molecule and is due to the dependence on the environment of the photoinduced energy transfer process occurring between its bodipy subunits. Therefore, 1 can give useful information about cell composition and ultimately anomalies without requiring the simultaneous use of several different compounds, paving the way for the use of environment-controlled inter-component energy transfer to gain cell information based on luminescence imaging.

Sequestering ability to Cu2+ of a new bodipy-based dye and its behavior as in vitro fluorescent sensor.

A Bodipy (4,4-difluoro-4-bora-3a,4a-diaza-s-indacene) derivative has been conceived and synthesized starting from l-aspartic acid, as a selective turn-off sensor of Cu2+ ions. Its acid-base properties were determined to study the formation of metal/sensor complex species by titration of solutions each containing a different metal ion, such as Cu2+, Ca2+, Zn2+, Pb2+ and Hg2+ and different metal/sensor ratios. The speciation models allowed us to simulate the distribution of the metal/sensor complex species at the normal concentrations of the corresponding metals present in biological fluids. The distribution diagrams, obtained by varying the concentration of sensor 1, clearly indicate that sensor 1 responds selectively to Cu2+ at micromolar concentrations, even in the presence of other more abundant metal cations Ca2+. Finally, we analyzed the cellular uptake of sensor 1 on human erythrocytes and its ability to chelate Cu2+ in the cellular environment. Results indicate that it crosses the plasmatic membrane and colors the cells of a bright fluorescent red. Exposing the fluorescent cells to Cu2+ results in a complete cellular photobleaching of the red fluorescence, indicating that sensor 1 is able to detect metal changes in the cytosolic environment.

Glucose-functionalized amino-OPEs as biocompatible photosensitizers in PDT.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a minimally invasive procedure that can provide a selective eradication of neoplastic diseases by the combined effect of a photosensitizer, light and oxygen. New amino oligo(phenylene-ethynylene)s (OPEs), bearing hydrophilic glucoside terminations, have been prepared, characterized and tested as photosensitizers in PDT. The effectiveness of these compounds in combination with UVA light has been checked on two tumor cell lines (HEp-2 and HeLa cells, derived from a larynx carcinoma and a cervical carcinoma, respectively). The compounds triggered a mitotic blockage that led to the cell death, being the effect active up to 3 µm concentration. The photophysical properties of OPEs, such as high quantum yield, stability, singlet oxygen production, biocompatibility, easy cell-internalization and very good response even at low concentration, make them promising photosensitizers in the application of PDT.

Stereoselective Synthesis of Substituted Tetrahydropyrans and Isochromans by Cyclization of Phenylseleno Alcohols.

A selenium-mediated strategy for the stereoselective synthesis of substituted tetrahydropyrans and isochromans has been developed starting from δ-phenylseleno ketones. After enantioselective reduction, the chiral nonracemic phenylseleno alcohols were oxidized to the corresponding selenones, which underwent an effcient 6-exo-tet ring-closure reaction.

Synthesis of D-erythro-sphinganine through serine-derived α-amino epoxides.

A total synthesis of D-erythro-sphinganine [(2S,3R)-2-aminooctadecane-1,3-diol] starting from commercial N-tert-butyloxycarbonyl-L-serine methyl ester is described. The approach is based on the completely stereoselective preparation of an α-amino epoxide obtained by treating a protected L-serinal derivative with dimethylsulfoxonium methylide. The oxirane synthon is obtained with an anti configuration fitting the (2S,3R) stereochemistry of the 2-amino-1,3-diol polar head of D-erythro-sphinganine. The synthetic procedure afforded the target compound in a 68% overall yield based on the initial amount of the starting L-serine material.

Oligo(phenylene ethynylene) glucosides: modulation of cellular uptake capacity preserving light ON.

A new family of oligo(phenylene ethynylene) (OPE) glucosides has been prepared and characterized. Our results demonstrate that fine-tuning of their photophysical properties can be obtained by acting on the electronics of the core and molecular skeleton. Modulation of the hydrophobic chain length and substituents on the central moieties influences the bioaffinity too. In particular, introducing a NMe2 group on the aromatic central core affords a highly efficient biocompatible fluorescent probe that can be taken up in cytoplasmic vesicles of HEp-2 cells (cells from epidermoid carcinoma larynx tissue). The photophysical behavior, high quantum yield, and stability open the way to the use of the OPE family as stains for cellular imaging analysis by fluorescence microscopy.

Synthesis of enantiopure sugar-decorated six-armed triptycene derivatives.

A new class of molecules with a triptycene rigid core surrounded by six monosaccharide residues was synthesized. Hexakis(bromomethyl) substituted triptycene was converted into a six-armed triptycene azide (2,3,6,7,14,15-hexakis(azidomethyl)-9,10-dihydro-9,10-[1',2']benzenoanthracene). The key step of the synthesis was the cycloaddition of the azide to 2-propyn-1-yl ß-D-gluco- or galactopyranosides. All products were isolated in good yields and were fully characterized.

Intramolecular displacement of phenylselenone by a hydroxy group: stereoselective synthesis of 2-substituted tetrahydrofurans.

An efficient and stereocontrolled synthesis of 2-substituted tetrahydrofurans has been achieved. The approach employs the asymmetric reduction of γ-phenylseleno ketones obtained by three different procedures that are peculiarly applied to the synthesis of such compounds. Finally, the intramolecular substitution of the phenylselenone residue by the oxygen atom of a hydroxy group gives the tetrahydrofuran ring.

Artificial light-harvesting antenna systems grafted on a carbohydrate platform.

An enantiopure α-D-glucopyranoside derivative has been used as a platform to prepare artificial antenna systems based on bodipy subunits. Efficient and ultrafast energy transfer (in the fs and ps time regimes) takes place in the multibodipy systems.